Updates from Our Flock

All birds must leave the nest . . .

Braddock Bay Bird Observatory has had many wonderful interns, students, and volunteers who have gone on to pursue projects elsewhere. Below you can read about some of the fantastic things our fledglings are doing now.

Kevin Eckert (fall BTC and volunteer, 2012 and beyond): Kevin studied the breeding ecology of Golden-winged Warblers in Tennessee during the summer of 2013. Starting this February, he will be in Hawaii banding and nest-searching as part of a demographic study of seven endemic species of birds there. (2/12/14)

Laura Evans (fall BTC and volunteer, 2009 and beyond): Last summer Laura worked as an Avian Field Assistant at UC Berkeley. She assisted with a Black and Virginia Rail genetics study examining population dynamics and habitat use. She performed target netting, night trapping, banded rails, took morphometric measurements, and blood samples for genetic and stable isotope analyses. She was employed by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center as an Avian Field Biologist in 2012, and helped establish a successful pilot year for a community-based research project called Neighborhood Nestwatch in Massachusetts, the aim of which is to increase our understanding of how the effects of urbanization impact the survival and breeding output of migratory and resident bird populations while engaging citizens in ornithological research. She taught participants how to collect data on backyard birds including nest monitoring and resighting of banded birds. (2/12/14)

Kyle Horton (MARS trailer, 2011): Kyle is currently pursuing a master’s degree in wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. He is using various methods (NEXRAD radar, marine radar, thermal imaging, flight calls, and bird banding) to monitor bird migration along the Delaware Bay to assess methodological differences and similarities. To learn more visit http://sites.udel.edu/aeroecologyprogram/. (3/21/13)

Jessica Howell (Intern, summer 2013): Jessica started graduate school at the University of Saskatchewan in January 2016. She’ll be looking at shorebird migratiom movements, particularly at Chaplin lake – a large saline stopover site for more than 100,000 shorebirds. She’ll be using a combination of radiotelemetry monitoring, point count surveys, and mortality surveys to assess movement in and out of the area, and how the birds will be affected by a wind farm that will likely be developed in the area. While we are banding passerines this May, she’ll be banding Sanderlings and Red Knots! (3/24/16)

Andrea Mott (volunteer, 2012): Starting in May, Andrea will be spending several months working as a point count surveyor and banding intern on a research project through Oregon State University at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest. (3/1/13)

Meghan Oberkircher (volunteer, 2013-2015): Meghan ran the HANA MAPS station in 2014 and in 2015 defended her Master’s Thesis using data gathered at BBBO. Currently, she is working for the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory performing bird surveys at the Augusta Airport and taking blood samples to test for cadmium exposure in birds at a site at the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. (2/3/16)

Emily Patterson (volunteer 2009-present, intern summer 2013): Emily graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN in May, 2015. Over the summer, she presented her independent research project involving avian abundance and diversity on a restored prairie at the 100th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America. She now lives and works in Minneapolis. (1/1/16)

Amanda Spencer Ziegelbauer (BTC and Data Tech, Fall 2012): Amanda is married and living in Colorado, where she works for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. She conducted point counts in CO and AZ, and ran two banding stations for them in the fall of 2015. She also volunteers for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, preparing skins for their ornithology collections. (1/22/16)